bobjengr - what a great quote! Very cool you shared that since I do something very similar with my students. The quote I use comes from Paul in Scripture: Philippians 3:13-14

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

I tell my students that their past does not dictate their future - notice Paul says "forgetting what is behind" and says instead "straining toward what is ahead." Paul also uses the slogan "Press on." It is indeed wisdom for the ages...

Nancy- When I discuss work ethic with my students I always give them the "Silent Cal Treatment". I give them each a copy of his statement below. I have one student who is absolutely brilliant but CANNOT take a test. He freezes. Utter panic. This statement helped him overcome (partially) his fear of failure and made him realize that Yogie was right--"It ain't over till it's over."

Persistence—President Calvin Coolidge said it better than anyone I have ever heard. "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "Press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. Calvin really knew what he was talking about.

bobjengr - I love that you are mentoring students. I am an adjunct professor at a local college and I can't tell you how many kids in my classes come from homes where they did not receive affirmation or encouragement regarding their education. Spending some time with these students - affirming their potential and encouraging them in their academic endeavors makes a huge difference for them. Your statement, "It shows what can be accomplished with effort" is the other half of the equation. I find that if you mentor students with a sincere desire for them to be successful, their response is typically to rise to the challenge. Often, ability is not the determining factor - it is the "want to" which can be cultivated in the mentoring relationship. Several of these students are on the school sports teams and did not think they could succeed academically - but with encouragement while holding them accountable - providing resources but not doing the work for them - they have found that they can.

I concur with making academics the real focus during the school year. Even if a student athelete is fortunate enough to become a professional athlete, time is not on their side. Injury or retirement in their 30's is a common outcome. A person should to continue to have revenue generating options for the next several decades of their life and a good academic degree can make this happen.

Not just football, but sports in general have become very technical with major emphasis on engineering. Engineering not does only play role in the playing part, but also on illustration of the game as well, which helps in better understanding of it.

For example take technologies like hotspot and hawk eye have become an important part of sports like cricket and tennis. Hawk eye is a complex computer system used to visually track the trajectory of the ball.

Charles: Your thumbnail of Charles Johnson omits the fact that he was also concurrently in the US Army for a couple seasons. He would spend all week as a soldier and the take a plane ride to St. Louis for weekend football. As I recall, he seldom played because he missed so much practice time and Jim Hart became the QB. After Johnson's military obligation expired, the Cardinals had to choose who to retain as both Hart and Johnson wanted to start. They choose Hart, who became a probowler in his own right, but there were many Cardinal fans who longed to have Johnson as the man under center. He was an excellent player and a genuine good guy. At least that was how he came across in interviews at the time. Thanks for reminding me of some of my growing-up years.

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

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